Lonnie Wheatley, CLUTE, Texas (August 4, 2016) – It’s one of the dates circled on the calendar each year. And now it’s here.
After another strong weekend, reigning Lucas Oil ASCS National Tour champion Aaron Reutzel is set to make a big run for this weekend’s $15,000 winner’s share at Knoxville’s 360 Sprint Car Nationals aboard the Shark-powered Dissolvalloy Downhole Revolution/BC Fundz No. 87 Triple-X Sprint Car.
“Our car is where it needs to be, I feel good going into the weekend,” said the driver of the Wren Motorsports/Momentum Racing Suspensions machine that is set for Thursday night qualifying action.
With time-trial qualifying lap typically at a premium on the qualifying nights, Reutzel hopes for a decent number for once at the storied Marion County Fairgrounds oval in Iowa. “I’ve never drawn a number that has us pitted on the front row at Knoxville, I’m hoping for that this time,” Reutzel says.
A podium finisher at last year’s Knoxville 360 Nationals, the driver of the Danny Sander Construction/ButlerBuilt entry carries momentum off a weekend that includes a pair of strong Lucas Oil ASCS National Tour efforts along with a $10,000 runner-up NSL 410-ci run in Minnesota.
Last weekend got an early start with ASCS action at South Dakota’s Park Jefferson Speedway, where Reutzel put together a solid sixth-place finish.
“With just two heats, they were both loaded,” Reutzel says. After going from ninth to sixth, Reutzel gridded the field ninth in the Wright Way Logistics/Walker Performance Filtration entry.
“It locked down on the bottom right away, there wasn’t much that could be done,” Reutzel said of his climb up to sixth.
Reutzel moved on to Minnesota’s Jackson Motorplex in Shane Liebig’s No. 55L for Friday’s $20,000-to-win NSL event. And it was very nearly a win with Reutzel leading much of the way in the feature event before settling for second.
“We had a really good car all night,” Reutzel relates. “It was right around the top in one and two, but that made it really tricky on the restarts with guys like Kerry (Madsen) and (Brian) Brown trying to slide me for the lead.”
Reutzel fended off the challenges until one final restart with just a few laps to go.
“I jumped the cushion in turn one and that cost me,” Reutzel said. “It was disappointing, it’s one that we should have won but I made one mistake.”
Another night of 410-ci competition followed on Saturday night at Knoxville with Reutzel climbing from a 19th starting position to finish 12th.
“We didn’t qualify that well,” Reutzel comments. “We were okay in the ‘A’, but we definitely need to run the Capitani Classic on Sunday to get dialed in a little more on a few things.”
This past weekend wrapped up with Sunday’s $10,000-to-win Lucas Oil ASCS National Tour card at Brandon, South Dakota’s Badlands Motor Speedway where Reutzel was fast out of the box.
“We got off to a great start by going from sixth to second in the heat,” Reutzel said.
The redraw put Reutzel starting eighth and he picked off a pair of cars right away as the feature got under way.
Track conditions came into play though and limited the Reutzel charge towards the front.
“I was kind of taking it easy early, thinking we would have time to get to the front,” Reutzel recalls. “It started rubbering up a lot sooner than I thought and we had to settle for third. We should have just gone hard right off the start.”
While victory lane eluded Reutzel over the weekend, signs were encouraging with both the No. 87 Sprint Car as well as the Liebig No. 55L 410-ci Sprint Car.
“Both cars are where they need to be, we’re ready for this,” Reutzel wraps up.
Two weeks of Knoxville begins Thursday evening with 360 Nationals atop the ½-mile clay oval.
2016 Quick Stats: 60 races, 4 wins, 19 top-fives, 30 top-tens.
Up Next:
Thursday – Knoxville (IA) 360 Nationals preliminary night
Saturday – Knoxville (IA) 360 Nationals championship features
Sunday – Knoxville (IA) Raceway 410-ci Capitani Classic
Keep Track: Keep track of Aaron Reutzel’s on-track action including schedule and results at http://www.aaronreutzelracing.com/, on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/pages/Aaron-Reutzel-Racing/117666254913127 or on Twitter at @AaronReutzel. You can also e-mail Aaron at aaronreutzel@yahoo.com.
If you would like Aaron Reutzel Racing press releases e-mailed directly to you, send your e-mail address to Lonnie Wheatley at lonniewheatley@gmail.com.
Penning the recurring series of “The Wheatley Chronicles” articles on www.sprintcarmania.com, Lonnie Wheatley provides media, public relations and more for select tracks, drivers and events. For more information, Wheatley may be contacted at lonniewheatley@gmail.com.
- administrator on Aug 04, 2016
- Article Date: 8/4/2016 by Lonnie Wheatley